Red Mountain Land Preserves
Advocate: Patricia O’Rorke

We have good news to share with you!

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Red Mountain Land Preservers,

First, we’ve launched our new website, www.redmountainlandpreservers.com, with up-to-date information on the Shivwits people’s fight to save their reservation. Please help us spread the news by posting www.redmountainlandpreservers.com on Facebook, Instagram, Next Door, and other social media and sending the website to your family members, friends, and the wider community across the country.

Second, our website has a payment function so you can simply click on Contribute to donate. All contributions are most welcome and help us immensely.

Third, thanks to your generous contributions, we were able to hire a consulting firm and send six Shivwits members to Washington in June to voice their objections to Reef Capital’s proposed legislation in person. Reef was asking Congress to transfer jurisdiction over the entire Shivwits reservation to the State of Utah, which would effectively terminate its status as a reservation, and to authorize a lease of Shivwits trust lands for up to 99 years, all without the consent of the Shivwits members. Senator Curtis had sponsored the bill in the Senate, but when Shivwits members and hundreds of concerned neighbors began flooding his office with calls and emails, he asked for an explanation of the opposition and put the bill “on hold” until the objections could be heard. Shivwits members Lawrence Snow, Patrick Charles, Sabrina Redfoot, Joni Bib Soldier, Samantha Nelson and Mary Snow met in person with key staff members for Senator Curtis, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and presented petitions signed by 87 Shivwits members opposing the legislation and Reef’s proposed golf development on their land.

Thanks to your calls and emails, most of the Senate staff members were aware of the objections to Reef’s bill. Recognizing the dangerous precedent it could pose for other tribes, the Committee on Indian Affairs had asked the Department of the Interior for input, which it has still not received. Staff members expressed concern over Reef’s attempt to circumvent the county’s water conservation efforts for golf courses. Some characterized Reef’s bill as “a solution in search of a problem” since jurisdiction over the reservation could be transferred to the State without a special act of Congress if a majority of members voted for it. Senator Curtis’s staff members apologized for failing to vet Reef’s lobbyist, who had pretended to represent the Shivwits people when Reef had actually been paying him for over a year.

They assured the Shivwits members that their personal visit to the Senate “made all the difference” and added that they considered Reef’s bill “dead in the water.” The Shivwits members have since been assured that the legislation will not be reported out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during this session of Congress, and if it or a similar bill reappears in the next Congress Senator Curtis will oppose it.

Stopping Reef’s bill in Committee is a signature accomplishment and we are extremely grateful for your help. But that’s not the end of the story. We need to continue monitoring new legislation and challenge the extraordinary measures that incumbent Shivwits council members aligned with Reef have taken recently to assert authoritarian control, intimidate dissent, and push Reef’s unwanted golf development through before the Shivwits people can stop it. After the Shivwits members elected Phillip Bushhead, an opponent of Reef’s legislation and proposed golf courses, as their new band chairperson and representative on the Paiute Tribal Council, the incumbent band members aligned with Reef held a kangaroo court proceeding, had sheriff’s deputies remove all his witnesses, and purported to remove him before he could even take office. The Tribal Council then held its own hearing, where Mr. Bushhead was represented by an attorney and witnesses and evidence were examined.

The Tribal Council determined on April 15 that Mr. Bushhead is the legitimate Shivwits Chairperson and Tribal Council member and his “removal” was invalid. Now, the Tribe recognizes Mr. Bushhead as the Shivwits Chairperson while the incumbent council members have installed one of their own as its “acting chairperson.” The Tribe’s efforts to resolve this impasse have been rebuffed by the incumbent Shivwits council members. They and their attorney, Mark EchoHawk, are now falsely claiming that the Shivwits band is a separate sovereign tribe in its own right and they are not subject to the Tribal Constitution, meaning the Shivwits members are not protected by the Tribal Constitution. They have even changed the Band’s website to assert these untruthful claims. When the Tribal leaders came to the Shivwits band council meeting on June 22 to discuss these false assertions the incumbent Shivwits council members shouted at Tribal leaders that they alone control all matters concerning the Shivwits people and property without any limitation by the Tribal Council or Constitution. Hopefully, the Tribal Council will take action to enforce the clearly established law defining the Shivwits as one of the five constituent bands of Utah Paiutes subject to the Tribe’s Constitution and laws.

Clearly, this situation must be resolved. Mr. Bushhead and other Shivwits members will need to be represented by counsel. On June 2nd, in accord with the Shivwits Bylaws, Shivwits members presented the band council with petitions for a referendum on Reef’s proposed golf development, an initiative requiring the band to oppose Reef’s bill, and the recall of band council members. Each petition was signed separately, with 87 signatures for the referendum and initiative, and 88 signatures for recall. This represents 74% of the total of 117 votes cast in the March 26 election. The Bylaws require an election on the petitions within 30 days of their submission, but the incumbents have refused to call an election. Instead of verifying that the signatures were those of enrolled members, the Secretary and “Acting Chairperson”—who was the subject of one of the recall petitions—embarked on a campaign of harassment and intimidation, calling members all hours, shouting at them, and demanding to know why they had signed the petitions, the exact date and time when they signed them, and other irrelevant details. The Secretary then issued a “ruling” that all four petitions were invalid based on fabricated requirements that are not found anywhere in the Bylaws.

On June 23rd, the incumbent council members unveiled a new band ordinance obviously intended to quell criticism, punish dissent, and institute a regime of fear. The stated purpose of the Orwellian “Shivwits Band of Paiute Indians Frivolous and Bad-Faith Claims Cost Recovery Ordinance” is to “govern the conduct of members,” “establish enforcement mechanisms” and an “Enforcement Authority” so any member who brings a claim, petition, grievance, administrative appeal or legal action will be required to pay a fine or have their benefits withheld or wages garnered. This is a direct attack on the members’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly, to petition for the redress of grievances, and to due process and equal protection of law.

Red Mountain Land Preservers has been blessed with assistance from an excellent attorney with extensive experience in Indian law. But as their struggle to save their reservation and culture continues, substantial funds will be needed to cover essential fees and costs.

If you can you help us, please go to our website’s contribution button Contribute at www.redmountainlandpreservers.com and give what you are able. Stay tuned to the How to help section of our website for updates, events, and action items. And don’t forget to sign up to Spread the news about the Red Mountain Land Preservers.

Take care and thank you! Tuh-aiyuck!

The Red Mountain Land Preservers

P.S. One more ask: If you or anyone you know can help us form a 501(3) charitable organization, please contact us at redmountainlandpreservers@gmail.com. Here’s our website’s QR code. Feel free to send it to family and friends!

Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Humanity
Advocate: Patrick Barickman

To learn more about our projects and mission please visit our website.

INKAS – Ivins No Kill Animal Supporters
Advocate: Lois Hewitt 

Ivins No-Kill Animal Supporters (INKAS) is a 501(c)3 organization and a Registered Utah Charity. It was founded in 2010 with the mission of providing support to Ivins Animal Shelter and Adoption Center, now the Santa Clara-Ivins Animal Shelter. In 2006 our shelter became the first no-kill municipal shelter in the state of Utah. Maintaining a no-kill shelter, as opposed to one that euthanizes animals after a set period of time, is more costly because the animal’s needs must be met at the shelter until they are reclaimed by their owners, adopted, or transferred to an animal rescue organization. Through a memorandum of understanding with Ivins City, INKAS provides support through veterinary care, specialty foods, and other needed supplies. Funds are raised through the donations of many generous animal lovers by donating on our website.